Schumer and McConnell Face Off on Debt Ceiling

Playbook: “Chuck Schumer is about to double-dog dare Mitch McConnell and his members to vote against a debt ceiling increase this fall. Just weeks after the minority leader implored his counterpart to tack a debt ceiling increase on to their party’s massive reconciliation bill — lifting the $28 trillion borrowing cap without any GOP votes — Schumer instead is maneuvering to make Republicans squirm.”

“The tentative plan: Tack the debt-ceiling hike on to a short-term funding bill designed to avert a government shutdown at the end of September, a move that would require GOP support. The Democratic leader is, in short, betting the GOP will cave rather than risk the blame for destabilizing an already shaky economy.”

“The entire situation gives us flashbacks to when Republicans demanded spending cuts in return for raising the borrowing cap while Barack Obama was in the White House. The brinkmanship led Standard & Poor’s in 2011 to downgrade the nation’s credit for the first time ever.”